Adam Yauch

A founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Beastie Boys, Adam "MCA" Yauch helped to bridge the gap between not only rock and rap, but between black and white listeners with his group's irrevere...
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"We're done. Adam Yauch started the band. It's not like a thing where we could continue without him." Beastie Boys star Adam Horovitz is adamant the rap band will not move forward without bandmate Adam 'Mca' Yauch, who lost his battle with cancer in 2012.

The surviving members of the Beastie Boys have won a lengthy legal battle over samples they used for their critically-acclaimed 1989 album Paul's Boutique. A New York judge has thrown out a copyright lawsuit against the rappers, concluding that executives at TufAmerica, who filed suit the day before band member Adam Yauch died in 2012, had no case.
In her ruling on Tuesday (24Mar15), Judge Alison Nathan granted the Beastie Boys a summary judgment, claiming the plaintiffs failed to acquire an exclusive license to the copyrighted material.
To bring a lawsuit against the trio, TufAmerica's bosses needed Trouble Funk stars Robert Reed, Tony Fisher and James Avery, whose tracks Say What and Let's Get Small were sampled on Paul's Boutique, to sign over their rights.
Reed and Fisher did a deal with the company, but Avery was left out.
The judge ruled, "Without the third co-owner, Robert Reed and Fisher could at best convey a non-exclusive license to TufAmerica."

The Beastie Boys are seeking almost $2.5 million (£1.6 million) in legal fees from Monster Beverage Corp. after bosses at the energy drinks firm lost a copyright infringement case last year (14). A jury at Manhattan federal court in New York ruled against the defendants in June (14) after an eight-day trial, during which they admitted to using the band's music, including hits Sabotage and Make Some Noise, in a 2012 online video tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch without permission.
The defence lawyer claimed his clients incorrectly thought they had the authority to use the tracks and urged jurors to award the rappers no more than $125,000 (£78,000), as the Beastie Boys' demands for at least $2 million (£1.2 million) in damages were "contrary to common sense".
However, the judge dismissed the appeal and awarded the hip-hop group damages of $1.7 million (£1.06 million).
Now an attorney for the Beastie Boys has filed new court papers asking for further funds to cover the stars' legal costs.
Representatives for Monster Beverage Corp. have yet to respond to the new filing.

Hip-hop veterans the Beastie Boys have finally shared the video for their Too Many Rappers track, four years after it was shot. The promo, directed by Roman Coppola, features late bandmate Adam 'MCA' Yauch, who died from cancer in 2012, and collaborator Nas. The song featured on the group's Hot Sauce Committee Part Two album, which hit retailers in 2011.

Bosses at energy drinks firm Monster Beverage Corp. have vowed to appeal a court ruling ordering them to pay the Beastie Boys $1.7 million (£1.06 million) for copyright infringement. A jury at Manhattan federal court in New York ruled against the defendants on Friday (06Jun14) after an eight-day trial, during which they admitted to using the band's music, including hits Sabotage and Make Some Noise, in a 2012 online video tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch without permission.
Monster Beverage's attorney, Reid Kahn, claimed his clients incorrectly thought they had the authority to use the tracks and urged jurors to award the rappers no more than $125,000 (£78,000), as the Beastie Boys' demands for at least $2 million (£1.2 million) in damages were "contrary to common sense".
He is now planning to challenge the judgement on his clients' behalf.
A statement released following Friday's loss reads: "Although Monster Energy has great respect for the verdict of the jury, we strongly disagree with it. We will make an application to the Court to set aside the verdict and we intend to file an appeal.
"From the inception, Monster Energy has been willing to resolve this matter in a fair and equitable manner and we will continue to make additional efforts to reach a just resolution of this dispute."
Surviving Beastie Boys Michael 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz each took the stand during the trial and insisted they would never have allowed their songs to be used by Monster Beverage Corp. as they had promised their late pal that they would fight any commercial exploitation of the band's music.

The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7 million (£1.06 million) in damages for copyright infringement. The hip-hop group's lawyer, Kevin Puvalowski, had been seeking at least $2 million (£1.2 million) in compensation from bosses at Monster Beverage Corp., after they admitted to using the rappers' songs without permission in a 2012 online video tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch.
The defendant's attorney, Reid Kahn, claimed his clients incorrectly thought they had the authority to use the music, which included hits Sabotage and Make Some Noise, and on Wednesday (04Jun14) asked jurors at New York's Manhattan federal court to award the band no more than $125,000 (£78,000), as the Beastie Boys' demands were "contrary to common sense".
However, the jurors sided with the legendary rap stars when they delivered their verdict on Thursday (05Jun14).
The decision wrapped up an eight-day trial, during which surviving members Michael 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz took the stand to give evidence and revealed they had promised their late bandmate that they would fight any commercial exploitation of the band's music.

A lawyer representing the Beastie Boys has urged jurors overseeing his clients' copyright infringement trial to award the band at least $2 million (GBP1.2 million) in damages. In his closing arguments on Wednesday (04Jun14), Kevin Puvalowski stated that bosses at Monster Beverage Corp's use of the trio's songs without a license in an online video was "absolutely egregious".
Bandmates Michael 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz, who previously testified in the case, were spectators in the Manhattan courtroom as Puvalowski told jurors Monster bosses had hoped to benefit from how "cool" his clients' had become.
The 2012 video appeared as a tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch, but it failed to impress the Beastie Boys, who are very protective of how and where their music is used.
Monster's lawyer Reid Kahn acknowledged his clients had infringed the Beastie Boys' copyrights, but insisted they incorrectly thought they had permission to use the music.
Kahn told the court that the band's demands for damages were "contrary to common sense", and asked jurors to award the band no more than $125,000 (GBP78,000).

The surviving members of the Beastie Boys have vowed not to record new music under the group's name after making a promise to late rapper Adam 'Mca' Yauch before his death in 2012. The hip-hop trio has not released any new material since 2011 album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, and Michael 'Mike D' Diamond reveals fans won't be hearing anything else from the Beastie Boys now that co-founder Yauch is no longer alive.
He revealed the news during a New York court hearing in the band's ongoing copyright infringement battle against the bosses of Monster Beverage Corp, who stand accused of using five of the band's tracks in a promotional video without permission. During his testimony on Friday (30May14), Diamond admitted he and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz had made a vow with Yauch to prevent any new music being released without each member's input.
Testifying at Manhattan Federal Court, the Sabotage hitmaker said, "We have not been able to tour since MCA, Adam Yauch, died. We can't make new music." Diamond returned to the witness stand on Monday (02Jun14), when defence lawyer Dana Susman attempted to depict the band as hypocrites after the rapper claimed they had turned down "a lot of money" after producers behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent film Sabotage asked them for permission to use their 1994 song of the same name.
Diamond revealed they had rejected the offer because they "weren't fans of Mr. Schwarzenegger's recent... work", but Susman called the rapper out and suggested they had subsequently backtracked as their song was used as the action man's walk on music during a recent appearance on America's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Susman alleged the band had received a fee of $600 (£375) in exchange for allowing a snippet of the track to be used, but Diamond insisted he had no knowledge of the deal and claimed any agreement would have been because they are "fans of that show", reports the New York Daily News. The Beastie Boys had previously performed on Fallon's previous programme, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, prior to Yauch's death.

The Beastie Boys rejected a big money deal to allow the producers of Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent movie Sabotage to use their song of the same name - because they aren't fans of the action star. Michael 'Mike D' Diamond made the revelation in a New York courtroom last week (ends30May14) as he testified in the band's ongoing copyright infringement case against the bosses of Monster Beverage Corp, who stand accused of using five of the hip-hop icons' tracks in a promotional video without their permission.
The promo was posted online days after the 2012 death of founding Beastie Boys star Adam 'MCA' Yauch, who had made it clear in his will that he didn't want his likeness or art used in any advertisements following his passing.
During his testimony at Manhattan Federal Court, the rapper used the Schwarzenegger film offer to demonstrate how picky the group is when it comes to allowing its work to be used for promotional purposes, admitting movie chiefs had offered the stars "a lot of money" to use the 1994 hit on the soundtrack.
He explained, "We felt it was too much of an endorsement, and we weren't fans of Mr. Schwarzenegger's recent... work."
The movie Sabotage bombed at the U.S. box office upon its release in March (14), grossing just $5.3 million (£3.31 million) in its opening weekend, making it the worst debut for a Schwarzenegger film in over 30 years.

Group released debut album Licensed to Ill under Rubin's Def Jam label; became first hip-hop album to top the Billboard 200 chart; included breakout single "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)"

The Beastie Boys formed own label Grand Royal; signed artists Luscious Jackson and Sean Lennon to its roster

Executive produced feature documentary "Free Tibet"

Directed the music video for "So What'cha Want" using the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér

Returned to punk rock roots with third album Check Your Head, recorded in band's G-Son Studios in Atwater Village, CA; album featured hit single "So What'cha Want"

The Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Yauch was unable to attend induction ceremony due to illness

Group went into more experimental direction with eighth studio album Hot Sauce Committee

Taught himself to play guitar while in high school

Directed a cast of comedy all-stars including Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and Seth Rogen in the short film "Fight for Your Right Revisited"

Appeared in the feature film "Krush Groove"

Sophomore album Paul's Boutique released under Capitol Records

The Beastie Boys won Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Performance (Hello Nasty) and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Intergalactic")

Summary

A founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Beastie Boys, Adam "MCA" Yauch helped to bridge the gap between not only rock and rap, but between black and white listeners with his group's irreverent, often surreal songs and music videos. Yauch began the group as a teenager, ushering it from a brief tenure as a punk act in the late 1970s to an early hip-hop act anchored by crude but deftly delivered anthems to debauchery like "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" They transformed themselves into a more mature, if still wryly humorous group that mixed their punk past with elements of jazz, electronica and heavy doses of samples from obscure records, earning Grammys along the way for the albums <i>Hello Nasty</i> (1998) and its addictive single "Intergalactic." Yauch himself became a well-regarded director, helming the Beastie Boys' videos as well as the concert feature "Awesome; I Shot That!" (2006) and the basketball documentary "Gunnin' for That No. 1 Spot" (2008). The Beastie Boys came full circle in 2012 with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; unfortunately, Yauch was unable to attend the ceremony due to what many speculated was cancer of the parotid gland, for which he had been previously treated in 2009. Yauch's death in May 2012 devastated the Beasties' global network of fans, which remembered MCA as a boundlessly creative figure in hip-hop and Hollywood for over a quarter of a century.

Name

Role

Comments

Dechen Wangdu

Wife

Married in May 1998 until Yauch's death on May 4, 2012

Tenzin Yauch

Daughter

Born in 1998; mother, Dechen Wangdu

Noel Yauch

Father

Frances Yauch

Mother

Education

Name

Edward R. Murrow High School

Bard College

Notes

Yauch introduced his alter-ego Nathanial Hörnblowér at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards when he stormed the stage in costume to protest R.E.M.'s win for Best Direction over the Beastie Boys video "Sabotage."

In 2009, Yauch revealed in a YouTube video to fans that he was undergoing surgery and radiation treatment for cancer in the Parotid gland in his neck.

"He was one of the top 10 voices in hip-hop." – Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels on Yauch, quoted in Rolling Stone, May 24, 2012

"Yauch was in charge. He had that extra drive in him, to see things through." – Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz quoted in Rolling Stone, June 7, 2012